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Monday, 29 February 2016

Recently I've been doodling Pokemon...not to be confused with diddling, that would be a whole different post!

When I was younger I used to doodle a lot, for one reason and another however I stopped for some time...for like 10 years. In recent weeks, I'm not sure why, I've decided to pick up a pencil again. As I've had such a break I've kept things simple, doodling stuff I used to find easy to get back into the swing of things. By complete coincidence, not knowing that last week marked Pokemon's 20th anniversary, hell I feel old, I've drawn a few Pokemon.

The following couple of images aren't complete, especially the second, they are very much works in progress...nor are they up to my previous standards, but cut me some slack I ain't drawn in years!

Sunday, 21 February 2016

In the past I've seen many 'get to know me' tags floating around, if I'm honest, I'd never really thought of doing one...a bit like how I'd not done those Facebook challenges until recently, thanks Jan!

Having seen more of them recently I've concluded it might be a good idea to do one, I figure it'll help you get to know me a little...so here it goes...1. Are you named after anyone? My middle name David is named after my birth father. As far as I am aware he wanted to name me David but my birth mother wouldn't allow it so a compromise was reached...I'll maybe explain my using 'birth' parent sometime, it's a long, and somewhat unpleasant story that sounds more like a crap telenovela than real life.2. When was the last time you cried? January this year. My wife's companion dog had to be put to sleep and I was with him when it happened. Since meeting the little bugger in 2010 he'd made quite an impression on me.3. Do you have kids? If you're someone who doesn't count pets as your children then no. If like my wife and I you see them as your children then yes I do.4. If you were another person, would you be a friend of yourself? Yeah...probably...I'm sure there's some benefit to knowing me.5. Do you use sarcasm a lot? More than I probably should.

6. Would you ever bungee-jump? For s***s and giggles, no. If there was a compelling reason why I had to, I'd like to think I would if the need arose.7. What’s your favorite cereal? Kellogg's Crunchy Nut. If I'm feeling flush then Apple Jacks...they're damn expensive to get here in the UK.8. What’s the first thing you notice about people? If it's a picture of someone, their eyes...that said I have a scatty brain and notice the oddest things so it's not always eyes. In person, I dunno, again it could be something normal like their smile or something weird.

12. Summer or winter? Winter...well, my ideal would be the visuals associated with summer (flowers, trees, wildlife etc) with the temperature of winter.

13. Computer or television? Computer.

14. What’s the furthest you’ve ever been from home? Somewhere in Spain, I can't remember where, I was young and uninterested.15. Do you have any special talents? I can't think of any off the top of my head, unless writing complaints to companies counts.

16. Where were you born? Dewsbury, West Yorkshire...for non-British readers, it's in the north of England.

17. What are your hobbies? Photography, drawing, playing computer games.

18. Do you have any pets? Yes.

19. Favorite movie? Probably Return Of The Jedi, although, a lot of the Marvel films are close.20. Do you have any siblings? I have a younger brother. I potentially, technically have a stepsister and stepbrother depending on certain things...again, long story!21. What do you want to be when you grow up? What...I have to grow up? As I'm fast approaching 30 I'm not sure this question is really aimed at me.

There you have it, you know a little bit more about me now. I'd be interested to see my readers answers to these questions, if you fancy answering them, please leave your answers in the comments section.

Friday, 12 February 2016

Recently my blog has experienced somewhat of a post drought, I say drought, it'sbeen less than two weeks without a post. This drought was caused by multiple factors including, torrential rain hindering shooting, and man-flu hindering, well, everything. Whilst resting, and complaining, the only known cure for man-flu, I've passed many an hour playing on the Nintendo 3DS, a good portion of my game time occupied by one game in particular...Lego Marvel's Avengers.

Trailer obviously not 3DS version!

Lego Marvel's Avengers is the latest in a line of Lego games based on popular movie franchises. Having played and enjoyed many of it's predecessors, and loving Marvel, I had to give it a go.

The game's campaign mode follows the events of both Marvel's Avengers, and Marvel's Avengers: Age Of Ultron, with a Captain America: First Avenger flashback thrown in for good measure. Despite following the events of two films and a 15 minute segment, the campaign is relatively short, with you able to complete a run through in merely a few hours. As is with all Lego games however, the campaign is designed in a way that requires multiple runs through using various characters you've unlocked to complete all the challenges...having completed one run through the campaign I had around 56% overall completion.

The campaign, whilst not always clear in direction, requires you to fight, destroy, and build your way to victory over Loki and Ultron. There was times where despite knowing the source material almost word for word, I found the game wasn't very clear on how to proceed. I found the easiest way to overcome this lack of direction was to just blast everything in site, this usually revealed the way or something I needed to build.

The campaign features a plethora of cut scenes, all of which are recreations of key scenes from the films, each featuring actual film audio. These scenes, whilst quite accurate reproductions, feature added Lego fun for the players amusement.

As well as the campaign mode this Lego Marvel outing sees the introduction of a free roam-able version of Manhattan, something that was limited to the home console and PC versions of previous games. This adds to the games life span by adding more challenges, more hidden content, and small side missions featuring characters such as Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and Taskmaster.

Speaking of characters, the game features an impressive roster with well over 100 characters...I should imagine...I ran out of fingers! Some characters, the characters who appear in both films, have multiple costumes. Iron Man being the biggest diva when it comes to wardrobe changes has around 14 outfits, some of which feature different weapons and/or abilities.

I'll admit I may be a little biased due to my love of Marvel but to me this game is well worth picking up, assuming you like Marvel, or Lego, or fun...after all it's full of fun Lego Marvel-y goodness!

Monday, 1 February 2016

At the start of the year, despite having had a crappy few months, and despite my better judgement, I started a 52 week project. I got it into my head that taking part in the project would take my mind off the things that had happened, giving me something to focus on.

Whilst in theory this was a good idea, in practice, not so much...

I'm a little OCD, I say little, I'm very OCD and ordinarily this project would be in my wheel house. When I started it though I had a c**p ton going on what with recent events, the effects they had on my family, my wife's health conditions, and me. Due to these factors the project kinda fell by the way side, it just didn't seem important, my family mattered more. Truth be told my head wasn't in it either, what with everything it felt like a chore, like I was forcing myself to shoot, and I never want my photography to feel like that. Missing the couple of weeks aggravated my OCD, giving my brain an itch I couldn't shift without the aid of a knitting needle. Because of this I'm ceasing the project and hoping to start later in the year. At the minute I'm thinking June...26 weeks into the year, exactly half way in, somehow that works for my weird lil brain.

Anyway, on a more positive note...

I've spent the last week reliving my younger days by playing on the Nintendo 3DS. We'll just ignore the fact that in my younger days I played on the original Game Boy. To put it in perspective for any modern, YouTube generation gamers, I played the original Pokemon games...when they came out...20 years ago!

I must be off now, I've got to go save the world from Lego Loki...and I've 'gotta catch 'em all'...and save Zelda...and win a karting championship. Damn, I'm gonna be busy!

All joking aside, I'm hoping to do some shooting soon, all being well.